FAQ – Crimes against boatbuilding – never put a plywood deck join on top of a deckbeam
Never join boat decks the way you join up panels in a house. Cracks and big failures will result.
How To
Also see the FAQ in the Boatbuilding menu for many more methods
FAQ – Getting a hull smooth – Torture Boards for strip planking and decks
Torture boards are used for the highest grade of smoothing for visual smoothness of the whole structure. Fairing a strip planked hull.
Fairing a join between adjacent plywood sheets in a hull or deck.
Fairing a composite structure
Fairing deck substructure. Deckframes and deck stringers ready to take plywood.
FAQ – Materials for strip planked boat or canoe in Australia – for lightness and beauty.
Ultralight strip planked boats using Paulownia, Balsa and Western Red Cedar. Superlight Eureka Canoe and Goat Island Skiff and the amazing 12lb balsa canoe
FAQ USL Code restoration of scantlings for traditional Australian Boats.
The dominant source of timber sizings or scantlings for traditionally built workboats in Australia is the USL Code. It would probably be OK for traditionally built workboats in other parts of the world. It has information for both traditionally planked or semi traditional plywood boats of larger sizes
I hate silicone sealant on boats – Silicone contamination a world of pain.
pointless, timewasting activities in boat repair and maintenance
How to remove OIL and DIESEL that has soaked into Timber or plywood. Wooden Boats
Oil or diesel fuel have soaked into some of the areas you want to work on. There are no easy solutions. But this one might work.
Repair of old and antique plywood class sailboats for Racing or Cruising
OK … I decided to keep the old racing dinghy and fix it up. How do I put my effort in the right places to get the maximum results? A grab bag of methods for joining plywood, working out sizes, making centreboards and rudders and more.
Q and A. Step 1 – Do I restore an old cheap racing boat or ditch it? International Cadet
When is it worth fixing an old racing dinghy and when is it best to ditch it?
Fixing up old Plywood Boats – Fix leaks and holes, replace bottom in 24 hours, low cost nonskid that works.
All the best material on boat repairs. From restoring old sailing dinghies for racing, fixing holes in canoe, replacing whole hull panels or the neatest and easiest way of doing a really nice texture of nonskid using sugar. And the non skid can be done in paint or varnish
Are 1 to 1 epoxy mixes a good choice?
Most epoxy mixes are 2 to one resin and hardener. Or 4 or 5 or 6 to 1. Some companies offer 1:1 and push ease of mixing. But are they a good choice?
Plywood boat building – scarfs or buttstraps
I specify butt straps because they are simpler, faster and have a neat result for amateurs every time. But I do place them in the hull where they won’t affect curvature of the ply. What are their advantages for joining ply compared scarf joints.
Correction to OzRacer RV plans – Transom widths – an easy fix at any stage.
A correction to the OzRacer RV plans.
There was a small discrepancy in the corners of the boat which can be filled. Or if the panels are not cut yet they can be corrected so no filling is required. Apologies to all affected – I do my best but sometimes something sneaks through. Thanks Ryan for the building feedback.
Visit to Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Adelaide.
I used to work at DuckFlat many years ago.
I visited them in Adelaide. Photo and text of a fast plywood trimaran, 40ft steam liveaboard boat, kayak, rowboat and a Hartley Powerboat restoration
A week fast building two Quick Canoes for touring the Loire in France – Part 1
The above photo was taken on the third day of our Canoeing trip on the Loire River in France. The two black canoes didn’t even exist a week ago.
When I wrote the original article on Disposable Canoeing I had no idea at all what it would lead to me and a bunch of adventurers, wine and cheese connoisseurs. Most of us didn’t even know each other! The picture above is the result of this adventurism, but what happened to make it happen?
What technology was involved to make the boats faster to build than most stitch and glue boats and what weather conditions did we have to overcome to make it all happen.
How much fiberglass will prevent most damage to my ply or timber canoe or sailing dinghy?
How much fibreglass is really necessary to prevent damage to a plywood boat for most users?
For a long time I’ve been suspicious that both designers and builders are in a never ending spiral of more and more heavier fibreglass.
I argue, with data from the Turner designed Jarcat, that the weights of glass are clearly excessive for most uses and users of small boats.
Storer Boat Plans at the free Goolwa Wooden Boat festival – Feb 26/27
The Goolwa Wooden Boat show is on the coming weekend.
Storer Boat Plans and Duckflat are having a joint stand as per normal.
The show itself is free this year with 250 boats entered in events or on display.
The Canon – Tools for thinking about sailing and boat design – Books and Articles
One of the most important things as a designer or sailor is to keep an open mind, but also to be able to analyze things in light of real experience and prior knowledge. These are online and paper resources that force thinking in different ways.
This article, after a bit of a spiel, goes on to give some great resources that “opened my eyes” at different times in my life.
They focus on areas of structural design, sailing, sail aerodynamics and touch on a bit more.
Taking videos on board sailing boats using a boom camera
Cameras, digicams, video cameras are fun on boats, but it is hard to get good pics of yourselves sailing the boat or the boat doing its stuff nicely.
John Goodman and Family built their Goat Island Skiff GIR and sailed it in the Texas 200 event as well as some solo river cruising.
They used a camera boom to great advantage – to move the camera away from the boat. Another alternative is a wide angle lens which can produce dramatic effects for marine photography but the toom seems much more useful. It works well with the steadying of anti-shake electronics.
DIY PVC Buoyancy bags and dry bags for dinghies, kayaks and canoes
You can pay money for dry bags to store gear in when canoeing, kayaking or sailing. Or pay even more for buoyancy bags that keep you boat afloat after capsize.
Here Ian tells us how we can make our own cheaply.
What I was busy with last week – building a Quick Canoe
I built the Quick Canoe in a day and a half. This is way slower than some of my customers.
It is the first time I have been disappointed building a complete boat this quick.
The risk of high expectations!
But a day and a half with the problems I had is pretty good.